NJ beach town shuts down swimming for entire season due to bacteria levels

Officials in Beachwood, New Jersey , have announced the beach will be closed for swimming for the remainder of the summer after high fecal bacteria levels were found in the water.

The beach will be closed to bathers after four weeks of tests found that bacteria levels were too high, indicating a high risk of illness from swimming.

Bacteria readings were up to 11 times higher than the standard rate, suggesting a high presence of feces in the water.

In a statement, the Mayor of the Borough of Beachwood said: “For the safety, health and welfare of the residents and others, the Mayor and Council have decided to close swimming at the beach for the remainder of the 2024 season due to the Ocean County Health Department reporting of excessive bacteria levels found in the water.”

“You may still sit and take in the lovely view of the scenery but no one will be permitted to swim.”

The Beachwood Beach on the Toms River has had water quality issues for several years.

In 2020, Environmental New Jersey declared the beach the dirtiest in the state, having potentially unsafe water half the times it was tested in 2019.

The New Jersey State Sanitary Code’s water quality standard for swimming beaches is determined by how much enterococci is present in the water.

The estimated enterococcus concentration cannot exceed 104 enterococci per 100 milliliters of sample for bathing .

Guidelines state that a beach should be closed if two consecutive samples exceed the allocated concentration of bacteria, which happened in Beachwood.

Enterococci live in the intestinal tracts of animals including humans and are indicators that feces are present in the water.

Enterococci are not considered harmful on their own to humans, but their presence indicates that other more harmful microorganisms are also present.

Fecal matter in the water can cause illness and diseases of the skin, eyes, ears and respiratory tract of swimmers.

Sources of fecal contamination in open water include sewage discharge, flooding , feces dumped from boats, and runoff from manure.